Read a match report of the 2014 World Cup Group A qualifying match between
Macedonia and Scotland at Phillip II Arena, Skopje, on Tuesday Sept 10,
2013.

Gordon Strachan’s claims of improvement in Scotland’s performances were vindicated for the second time in successive visits to the Balkans with a victory to add to their unforeseen triumph over Croatia in Zagreb in June.

Nor was this a case of coming off the back foot to edge a win with a single chance.

Instead, the Scots took the game to Macedonia from the start and went ahead with a strike from Ikechi Anya – who had achieved favoured status with the Tartan Army before he netted his first international goal – and despite a late Macedonian rally that saw substitute Jovan Kostovski equalise from a beautifully-flighted pass from Goran Pandev – Shaun Maloney sealed the deal with an exquisitely struck free-kick two minutes from the end of normal time.

Pleased with what he had seen from Anya in his brief debut appearance as a substitute against Belgium at Hampden Park last Friday the manager chose the Watford winger to be the focus for the Scots’ upfield thrusts. Anya’s pace and close control repeatedly caused problems for the Macedonian right-back, Daniel Georgievski.

Understandably, given his sudden elevation to this level of football, Anya sometimes looked raw and his decision making wanted a little composure, but he certainly applied himself to the task of generating supply for Steven Naismith – in the lone striking role vacated when Kenny Miller announced his international retirement – as well as the supporting Maloney and Barry Bannan.

Naismith signalled that he was also in the mood when he essayed an ambitious overhead drive which angled across the box and went out a yard wide of Tome Pacovski’s right- hand post. Midway through the first half Anya found his range and ­Naismith, who had adjusted his ­timing to match the winger’s runs, got on the end of a driven cross from the left but could not get his header down, to Pacovski’s obvious relief.

Just past the half-hour, Naismith turned provider with a shrew prompt from midfield to release Scott Brown for the first outstanding chance of the contest as the Scotland captain broke through to go one-on-one with Pacovski, but the goalkeeper was able to make a crucial block.

Brown’s Champions League experience was a manifest asset, both in the assurance of his play in the engine room but also in his mileage, which saw him materialise behind Steven Whittaker to thwart a rare Macedonian foray into the danger area.

At the other end of the field Anya decided to try for a finish on his own account and forced Pacovski into a one-handed save.

However, a familiar anxiety had taken shape as half time approached. The Scots had controlled 60 per cent of possession and had forced all of the opportunities of the opening period but when domination is not converted into goals there is always scope for a sucker punch.

It almost arrived on the verge of the break when Adis Jakovic got behind the Scottish defence for the first time in the proceedings but sliced his drive wildly into the side net. Thus encouraged, Macedonia emerged for the restart with a pace and determination that had been absent previously, but they left the door open at the back when Naismith fed Anya inside the box for a flailing shot that looked profligate until the Watford player was granted another sight of goal from the same spot a couple of minutes later.

This time Anya showed he had learned from his prior swipe and kept the ball low with a controlled drive that clipped off the base of the post and rebounded across the line.

Kostovski’s late response looked as though it had undone all Scotland’s good work – until Maloney’s delightful coup de grace.

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan claims the manner of his team's 2-1 win in Macedonia was "beyond his dreams".

Ikechi Anya and Shaun Maloney struck for the Dark Blues in Skopje to lift the nation off the bottom of World Cup Group A.

Strachan's men were presented with a heavily rutted surface at the Philip II Arena but impressed with their slick attacking moves.

Yet the the Scots looked like they would have to settle for a draw after Jovan Kostovski had cancelled out Anya's stunning opener.

But Wigan playmaker Maloney came up with an even more audacious winner as he struck home a 20- yard free-kick two minutes from time to secure the victory.

Strachan told BBC Radio Sccotland: "I'm extremely happy, for the players first of all. To put that work in and play like that and then get hit by a late equaliser was harsh. But we came back again to score and we deserved it. I thought they were terrific tonight.

"A draw would have been hard to take. I was coming in on the team bus tonight and I was trying to think how we would manage on a surface like this. How do we win a game of football on this?

"I thought a 1-0 would have been great. But to win it like that was beyond what I would have dreamed."